


Tying the Knot

by Serenade_in_Blue



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco Malfoy In Love, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Oblivious Harry Potter, Pining, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Then Less Oblivious Harry, They don't actually get married it's just a tie pun, because I'm weak, because even his obliviousness has it's limits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:50:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21127295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serenade_in_Blue/pseuds/Serenade_in_Blue
Summary: Harry couldn’t believe his ears. There was no wayDraco Malfoyhad just agreed to help him with something. Without getting anything in return. It had to be a trap. And yet... as Harry imagined Mafoy's lithe hands brushing against his throat he realized he didn't much care if Dracodidplan to kill him. There's no way he was going to pass up this opportunity.~~Harry has somehow managed to make it through 8 years at Hogwarts without learning to tie his own tie. (Hermione is terrible about enabling him). When he finally asks his new roommate for help, he gets a bit more than he bargained for...





	1. Chapter 1

_Over— no, under— bloody hell this is pointless._ Harry stepped back from the mirror and looked at the tie, which more closely resembled a noose at this point. It was silly, he’d worn a tie with his uniform for years, but he’d always had Hermione around to fix it for him so he never really bothered to learn how. But now Hermione was rooming with Pansy halfway across the castle and Harry was stuck in this blasted tower with—

“Having some trouble there, Potter?” Malfoy sneered. 

Harry locked eyes with his roommate in the mirror and gave him his most threatening glare, although he wasn’t sure how convincing it was. He’s been told he’s not very naturally intimidating. 

He turned his attention back to the tie, undoing the clumsy loops and preparing to start over yet again. He waited for Malfoy to quit staring and get on with his pathetic life, but the git just kept hovering over Harry’s shoulder, his piercing silver gaze locked on Harry’s neck. A chill ran through his body.

Harry whirled around to face his roommate. “What are you staring at Malfoy?” Harry snapped, “Haven’t you got better things to do?”

Rather than backing away, as Harry had intended for him to do, Draco merely smiled coolly and took a confident step forward. His sharp nose was only centimeters from Harry’s, and he could smell Draco’s breath as it ghosted across Harry’s lips. It smelled like apple cider and spearmint, a combination that had no right to smell that intoxicating.

“Well, I was going to get a bit more studying done before class,” Malfoy drawled, “but I find this _much_ more entertaining.” 

Harry bit back a growl. He hated that Malfoy of all people was the one to see him struggling with something so mundane. The last thing Draco needed was more ammunition to use against Harry. Although, now that he thought about it, the insults had been less frequent since the war. And when Malfoy _did_ make fun of him, it was almost half-hearted, like he was simply going through the motions. Harassing Harry had gone from his life’s greatest pleasure to something he did out of obligation to keep up appearances. Honestly, it had gotten to the point where the lack of insults was making Harry’s blood boil worse than any taunt. They were _living_ together for Merlin’s sake, Draco should be making his life hell. Yet, for the last month of cohabitation, all Malfoy had shown was apathy, as if he were rooming with a house plant instead of his mortal enemy.

In a way, it was refreshing to have a reason to scream at Malfoy again. He’d been itching for a fight for weeks. _It’s just the nostalgia,_ Harry reminded himself. _It’s not that I_ enjoy _fighting with him._

“Oh come off it Malfoy!” he spit, “I know what you’re doing, and you’re not going to get a rise out of me,” Harry could feel blood rushing to his cheeks in anger, but Malfoy still looked like he was carved out of marble and he raised one eyebrow incredulously. 

“Oh, I’m not? But you look so pretty when you’re angry. All rosy cheeked and flustered.”

Harry felt his face flush impossibly darker, and tried to form a coherent sentence. Which was quite difficult with Draco’s cool breath ghosting across his heated cheeks.

“I— I don’t— You—“

Draco smirked triumphantly. “So The Chosen One can’t tie his own tie, or speak in complete sentences. It’s a wonder you made it past first year.”

He enunciated the words slowly, as if he were talking to a five-year-old. Harry hated it.

“Yeah, well, you’re a git. So…”

Malfoy’s nose wrinkled in that annoying way it did ever time he scoffed.

“Nice comeback, Potter.” He leaned in closer, their noses almost touching. Draco’s dark gaze dropped to Harry’s throat, “Let me know how that tie turns out.” he muttered darkly.

And then he was gone. In two long strides he was halfway out the door before Harry knew what had happened. Harry took a gasp of air (he hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath) and without thinking he cried, “Wait!”

Malfoy paused in the doorway, but didn’t turn around. “What, Potter?”

Harry was stunned. He didn’t know why he’d called for Draco to stop, he just knew he didn’t want him to leave yet. Not when this was the best he’d felt since eighth year began. So he made an excuse. “I— er— I need help. With the tie.”

Draco stiffened. Ever so slowly he turned to face Harry. He thought he saw Malfoy swallow nervously. It must have been Harry’s imagination.

“Why don’t you have Weasley do it?” He asked, his voice low and steady.

“Well, Ron’s got Divinations first and I—“

“No, not that Weasley.” Draco said, annoyed, “Your girlfriend. Surely you’re popping by for a snog before classes.”

“Oh, we actually, um,” Harry looked down and fiddled with his sleeve. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. “We broke up. Over the summer.”

Draco was quiet. 

“It was mutual,” Harry continued, unable to stop himself once he’d started, “We wanted different things. Of course, Ron didn’t take it well—“

“I don’t need your life story.” Draco interrupted.

“Sorry.”

There was a beat in which neither boy would look the other in the eyes. And then—

“Come on, then.”

Harry’s head whipped up, and he saw Malfoy staring intently at the wall, his jaw fixed, as if he hadn’t just spoken.

“W-what?” Harry stuttered.

Draco finally met his eyes, and gave him an ever so familiar look of exasperation. “Do you want a proper tie or not?”

Harry couldn’t believe his ears. There was no way Draco Malfoy had just agreed to help him with something. Without getting anything in return. For a moment Harry worried it was a trap… No, they were past the age of trying to murder each other. If Malfoy wanted to kill him he’s had plenty of chances. 

“Yes please,” Harry said and scampered over to where Malfoy was standing. Draco shut the door, as it he couldn’t bear it if someone caught him being _nice_ to Harry. After all, he had a reputation to uphold.

For a moment they stood face to face, neither one moving.

“Are you planning to tie it telepathically?” Harry muttered, trying to relieve the strange tension he felt in his gut. 

Malfoy grunted and carefully lifted his hands to the fabric dangling from Harry neck. Harry tried to watch his graceful hands, but when that forced him to scrunch up his neck in an unflattering way he gave up and focused instead on Draco’s face. He was staring intently at the tie as he straitened the ends on Harry’s neck. He almost looked like he was scared to let his eyes stray from the fabric. Which gave Harry a chance to really look at Malfoy without fear of embarrassment.

Harry’s eyes roved over Draco’s jutting jawline, and thin, pale lips. His hair, always so carefully slicked back, was falling into his eyes just a bit. It made him look almost human. Not that he wasn’t human, it was just... Harry always got this sense that Malfoy was something other, something untouchable. But he looked pretty touchable right now.

One long, slender finger brushed against Harry’s throat. He swallowed instinctively, and Draco pulled his hand away as if he’d been burned. 

Malfoy’s eyes flitted up to Harry’s for half a second, before fixating once again on Harry’s tie. With a steadying breath, he took the fabric in his hands once again, and continued his work. _Strange,_ Harry thought, _it never takes this long when Hermione does it._ He considered asking Draco if _he_ knew how to tie a tie, but every thought left his mind as he looked down to see Draco sink his teeth into his lower lip. All the in his body ran south, and he fiddled with his robes a bit to keep himself… concealed.

He shouldn’t be having this kind of reaction to someone biting their lip. Especially if that lip belongs to Draco Malfoy. And yet…

Draco didn’t touch Harry’s skin again, but every time the silky fabric brushed across his neck, Harry shivered. With one long, slow tug, Malfoy released the knot and straitened up to admire his handiwork. He’d gotten taller than Harry at some point in the last few years, so Harry had to tilt his head to look up just a little with him standing so close.

“Thanks,” Harry breathed, finally locking onto Draco’s grey eyes. His gaze was normally cold and composed, but today his eyes looked wild. Desperate. 

Draco’s gaze fluttered down to Harry’s lips, and Harry licked them without thinking. Suddenly, all he could think about was Draco’s lips, and how they might feel. How they might taste.

Harry had never felt like this before, like Draco was magnetic, pulling Harry towards him. And the closer he got, the stronger the pull felt. It was taking all of Harry’s concentration just to keep these few centimeters between their lips. He didn’t know when this had started, or what it meant, but in that moment, Harry knew this magnetism wasn’t going away. 

So he gave in.

He let himself fall into the force of Draco’s magnetism, until his nose gently bumped the other boy’s. He let his eyes slide closed as he leaned in and…

Their lips brushed, soft as a butterfly’s wing. He felt Draco’s tiny gasp the moment their lips separated, and then they were kissing again. _Really_ kissing. Draco’s lips assaulted his, pressing in, his tongue licking in a tantalizing dance and Harry was breathless. He tried to keep up, but technique was forgotten as they came together in a frenzied rush of lips and tongue and Malfoy was nibbling on Harry’s lip, and there was moaning, and Harry couldn’t even remember what day it was.

It might have gone on forever and Harry wouldn’t have complained. He was addicted to the sweet flavor of apples and spearmint. He was addicted to the soft, muffled sounds Draco made when Harry kissed down that gorgeous jaw. And he thought dimly in the back of his mind that he much preferred this to fighting. 

And then the door burst open.

“HARRY, I’M SO SORRY I FORGOT YOUR TI—“

Hermione’s hair was wild, twining from edge to edge of her doorframe, perfectly framing the shocked expression on her face as she took in the two disheveled red-faced boys before her. 

“Oh. Well. It seems you’ve been taken care of. I’ll be off then. Sorry to interrupt.”

She turned on heel and made a hasty escape. 

There was a long, tense, silent pause.

And then, Draco fled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the pining begin...

Draco Malfoy was flustered. Which was unusual, because ordinarily he was calm collected. And, to the casual observer he still appeared calm and collected as ever. But it was clear from the way his naturally rigid posture was even stiffer than ever, and his steely eyes seemed a bit warmer. Not warm in a loving way, but warm like a computer that has been working far too hard to load something a bit too complex for its hardware.

Harry Potter was not a casual observer. When he observed Draco Malfoy, he did so with the practiced scrutiny of a longtime enemy who had engaged in a surprising and unsettling snog only hours before. And so, he alone noticed the exceptional stiffness of Malfoy’s posture and the strange temperature of his gaze. And he alone knew what had him so flustered.

Harry should be panicking. He’d kissed his mortal enemy! Well, not his _mortal _enemy, but certainly among the top ten! Not only that, he’d kissed a bloke! And he’d liked it.

Somewhere in the back of Harry’s mind, he knew that this changed everything. But Harry couldn’t quite bring himself to worry about that, when he could just as easily fantasize about running his fingers through Draco’s silky blonde hair.

“What’re you starin’ at Harry?” Ron asked, elbowing Harry good-naturedly and effectively snapping Harry out of his reverie.

“Oh, um, nothing. Just… lost in thought."

Ron chuckled, “Yeah. Slughorn’s lectures are enough to put me to sleep too.” Harry was well aware of this fact. He’d once had to rouse Ron in the middle of Potions because he’d been snoring so loudly Harry couldn’t hear the lesson. Slughorn hadn’t even noticed.

Harry glanced back toward Draco, unable to help himself, and nearly jumped out of his seat when he was met with two grey eyes looking back at him.

Both boys hastily looked away, far too quickly to appear casual. But the only one who noticed was Hermione, and she kept her lips tightly sealed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this short? Yes, yes it was. Will the next one be short too? Yup. Will I date quickly to make up for that fact? Yes indeed.
> 
> ~Sernade in Blue


	3. Chapter 3

The awkward pantomime continued all day. Both boys orbiting each other, but never drawing too close, as if one false move could send them crashing into each other in a fiery wreck.

Draco had done a stellar job of avoiding Harry all afternoon, but Malfoy’s gravitational pull had proved too much for Harry. He spent half his time staring at Draco, and the other half _thinking_ about staring at Draco. And kissing Draco. And…

Harry shook his head to reign in his drifting thoughts. He had five minutes left in Transfigurations, and then he was done for the day. Which meant he could go back to his room and hope that Draco was there too.

“…expect you all to have perfected your spells by this Thursday,” McGonagall’s strict voice rang through the classroom, “You are dismissed.”

Harry was out of his desk in a flash, not even stopping to say goodbye to Ron and Hermione. He dashed up the stairs of the tower to his small room, flung open the door—

It was empty.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun had been set for hours when Malfoy slunk back up towards the room. If he could’ve, he’d have stayed out of the room all night. Or even moved. Anything to avoid Potter’s summer green eyes boring into him and demanding an answer. Anything to avoid telling Potter the mortifying truth.

But if he stayed out in the corridors much longer, he was sure to be caught, and in his current position as a pardoned war criminal he couldn’t afford to get caught breaking any rules.

He was surprised to see lamplight was still leaking out from under the door when he returned. It was well past Potter’s sensible bedtime. This wasn’t going to be good.

He opened the door slowly, preparing himself for the dreaded conversation before him. Potter would probably start with “We need to talk.” A breakup classic. Not that they were ever really together. Perhaps he’d jump straight in, tell him “This morning was a mistake.” It didn’t much matter what Potter said, really. Draco’s reaction would be the same. He’d scoff and make it very clear that, of course it didn’t mean anything. It was an error, a fluke, an anomaly. And it would never happen again. That part, at least, would be true. No matter how much Draco yearned for more, that kiss was the only one he was getting.

As he eased the door open wide enough to slip inside, he felt dread coil deep in his stomach. This was it. After this there was no more pretending. Because no matter how much Draco tried to steel himself against the upcoming rejection, he couldn’t ignore the small flutter of hope he’d felt all day. That maybe Harry didn’t just kiss him in a moment of temporary insanity. Maybe he could…

Maybe he could love Draco back.

Being in love with your lifelong enemy makes for a torturous and lonely existence. Draco thought he hated Potter for years.Honestly, he wished he hated Potter. It would have been far simpler. Instead, he spent every waking moment of the first 6 years of his education plotting how best to rile up Potter. Honestly, the moments when they were at each other’s throats were the only times Draco really felt alive. The frustrated glint Harry got in his eyes when he was angry was intoxicating. And now, Malfoy knew he got that same electric gleam in his eye just before he kissed him.

Draco had been prepared to suffer in silence for the rest of his life. That was the fate of a former Death Eater who was stupid enough to fall for the chosen one. But then the bastard went and kissed him. And everything went topsy turvy.

Draco stepped into the room, his breath stuck stubbornly in his throat.

Potter sat slumped at his desk. Fast asleep.

Draco sighed in relief.


	5. Chapter 5

When Harry woke up the next morning, he noticed 3 things. 

1\. There was a fluffy brown blanket tucked snuggly around him that most certainly hadn’t been there when he’d dozed off.

2\. He had to be at Potions in 10 minutes.

3\. His tie was untied.

Out of these three realizations, the most worrying should probably have been the class he was almost certainly going to be late for. If not that, it should have at least been the piece of his uniform that he still wasn’t able to don properly. And yet, he couldn’t get his mind off of the blanket. And how it came to be around his shoulders. 

Had Draco done it? It didn’t seem like him, and yet… who else could it have been? As Harry jumped into his trousers and dug around his closet for clean robes, he imagined Draco gently tucking a blanket around his shoulders, pausing for a moment afterwards to watch the gentle rise and fall of Harry’s breath…

When he walked into Potions five minutes late with his tie hanging loose around his neck, not even Hermione’s sternest look could wipe the dopey smile off his face.

~~~


	6. Chapter 6

Harry Potter’s tie was loose and he was grinning like an idiot. Thus, logically, Draco was hiding in the loo.

Draco sat in the stall with his face in his hands trying to fight off the stupid smile that had been trying to break through all morning. With every time he caught Potter staring at him or smiling at nothing, that stubborn little flicker of hope got stronger. And the stronger that bit of hope became, the more terrified Draco felt.

The door to the bathroom swung open with a creak, and Draco went very still. Which, in hindsight, was a stupid decision. He had every right to be in the men’s restroom, and whoever had just entered could clearly tell that the stall was occupied. Yet, Draco couldn’t fight the feeling of being caught doing something embarrassing, so silently he sat on the toilet until—

“Malfoy?’

Draco flinched at the familiar voice which rang out in the empty bathroom.

“I know you’re in here, I can see you shoes.” Potter said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Malfoy stayed silent.

“Look, Malfoy, we need to talk.”

Now those are words that no man (or woman) ever wants to hear. Draco stood up, trying to maintain an air of dignity as he opened the stall door and stepped out to face the boy who lived.

“We need to talk? About what?” Malfoy spat. “You’re wanting to break up with me after one snog? Because I’d like to remind you that _you _kissed _me_, not the other way around.”

Hurt flashed over Potter’s face, and Malfoy almost backpedaled just to make it go away.

No, he couldn’t do that. It’s better this way. Hurt him before he has the chance to hurt you. It was just a kiss. A stupid, beautiful, passionate, sexy, world-shattering kiss.

“You didn’t exactly seem repulsed at the time!” Harry argued, his ruddy cheeks screwed up in anger and confusion.

“Yeah,” Draco sneered, “well I had to see if the rumors were true.”

Harry frowned. “What rumors?”

Draco leaned in close. So close he could smell Potter’s musky scent (he hadn’t showered once in the last week as far as Draco knew). He reveled in the way Potter’s breath hitched when Draco neared him, soaked in the heat radiating off Harry’s sun-kissed skin. This was the last time Draco would let himself so close to Harry Potter, and he planned to savor it.

“Word on the street,” he drawled cradling the words in his mouth before muttering them in Harry’s ear, “is you’ve got a thing for biting.”

He drew back painfully, but kept his features calm and cruel as he looked Potter in the eye.

_Finish him,_ he commanded himself, _just end it._

“I guess the rumors were true.”

He turned, robes swishing around his ankles dramatically, and exited the room in three graceful strides, leaving a shell-shocked Potter in his wake. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fellow shippers! So, I've decided to continue this work, but fair warning: this is the longest and most action packed chapter (except maybe the last one) so the rest will be just some fluffy angst/pining chunks. If that's your thing, then your in luck! Cuz who doesn't love some good pining??
> 
> ~Serenade in Blue


End file.
